In Part 1 of this series, we considered problems that often arise when a PM tries to introduce PMI-style project management techniques into an organization with minimal investment in project management. Because project management is a social, participative activity, the effectiveness of particular methods is inevitably bound up with the culture and aptitudes of the organization in which these methods will be employed. For an organization with little project management experience, earned value calculations don’t appear to be meaningfully different than the blithe “we’re 90 percent done” statuses that plague poorly run projects. Similarly, scope statements and change management plans are unlikely to find many admirers in organizations that rely heavily on oral communication and often fly by the seat of their pants.

In such organizations, trying to manage projects with the overt use of PMI-style techniques is probably futile and may even be counter-productive. Not every organization is ready for the PMI way of doing things, and if formal project management techniques are introduced clumsily, the organization is likely to recoil and dismiss these as a waste of time. Instead, it is often better to meet the organization where it is and begin with simple methods having broad, intuitive appeal. More advanced tools and techniques can be finessed in over